BIOLA — For the first time, surface water from Fresno Irrigation District’s (FID) Herndon Canal is flowing into the Biola Community Services District’s (CSD) 6-acre groundwater recharge basin. This milestone marks the completion of the Biola Groundwater Recharge Project, which enables Biola, a groundwater-dependent disadvantaged community in northwest Fresno County, to be fully groundwater sustainable. Biola CSD may be the first to reach this groundwater sustainable milestone in a critically over drafted groundwater basin as defined by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR).
Completed in 2024, the project includes a new turnout connecting FID’s Herndon Canal to the basin providing approximately 30 acre-feet of storage capacity. Together, the improvements allow Biola CSD to capture available surface water, replenish the local aquifer, and offset groundwater pumping under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).
“This project represents years of planning and collaboration,” said Carmen Zamora, General Manager of Biola CSD. “For a small community like Biola, having the ability to recharge groundwater with surface water is a tremendous investment in our water resilient future.”…